Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Shroud of Darkness (Rewrite)
by JacobDaGun
Summary: The journey of one amnesiac Cubone (and co.) to save the world from a strange, evil force. (Sort of a dull summary, I know.) An old story, reborn anew! (Rated T for potential violence.)
1. Chapter 01 - A New World

So...hello. How are you all? Good? ...Yeah, sorry. I'll, uh...yeah, I'll jabber at you at the end here. Bye!

 **Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Shroud of Darkness**

 _Chapter 01: A New World_

* * *

"Zach, where are the fries?" asked a concerned voice from somewhere else in the kitchen.

"Working on it, this isn't easy!" came the reply from my companion behind me. He wiped a bit of grease off his forehead from the fries.

What were we doing? Well, the hideout of those beasts happened to be a local fast food joint, and they happened to be disguising themselves as the employees. Truthfully, it was kind of brilliant, in a weird way. Well, we broke in the back door and knocked everyone out, unknowingly during business hours, so after locking everyone into a closet, we frantically began to finish orders. I was manning the register, Zach was handling the fries and getting things wrapped, and Ryu had burger duty. Of course, we weren't being too discreet, but somehow the customers didn't seem to mind. My staff lay nearby, of course, in case I needed it. Zach still had his chainmail vest on, and his sword was strapped to his back, and Ryu...well, he didn't have anything else but his karate gi.

I looked back, concerned. I could see Zach's blonde hair over the roof of the fryer as he worked frantically to not burn the fries. I saw Ryu's black hair and blue headband join him for a moment, with a customer's burger.

"What's taking so long?" asked a feminine voice in front of me.

I turned back around. "I apologize, we're a bit...short staffed at the moment," I stuttered back to the lady who was patiently awaiting her order. I cast a brief glance at my staff, amused at what I realized had just been an accidental pun.

Ding! Zach had the order ready, it seemed. I turned around, grabbed the tray, double-checked the order was right, and turned back to the lady. "Here is your order, ma'a-OH!"

Where did her face go? She had one like 2 seconds ago, where did it go? Now there was just a black void. She stood there, still, like a statue.

"Uh...Zach, we may have a problem..." I said hesitantly.

"She may not be our only concern," said Ryu. He pointed behind him.

The kitchen was...breaking apart? Tile by tile, the place was breaking apart into a black void. I grabbed my staff, clutching it close, as Zach drew his blade, and Ryu took a fighting stance. We all backed up slowly, stopped by the lady from earlier. Her face was still gone, but two red slits appeared in her face, like eerie eyes. The void continued, and engulfed us all. I screamed as I saw my friends fall into the void, and disappear, along with everything else. I, however, stayed still, unaffected by the void.

"RYU, ZACH!" I screamed as they fell. What to do? Nothing! I couldn't even move! In fact, I almost felt...nonexistent.

As the final bits of reality disappeared, I silently mourned the loss of my friends. And, suddenly, one last body drifted towards the void. It was a scrawny boy, dressed in blood-soaked pajama...wait, that's me! What?

...I'm asleep...I think...right?

...I have to be...

...Yeah, completely, because I've never had friends called Ryu or Zach...and I most certainly was not a warrior...yeah, it was a dream...

...So I should be waking up at any moment...

...

...Right...?

...

...

...

...

Come on...wake up...

...

...Hello?

...

...

...

...

...

...

...Help...please, help...

...

...

...

...What...what's that?

...

...A...It's a...a yellow and a black and a white...

...And it's...clouds...

...Hello?

...I see something else...what is it?

...Is it...talking to me?

...

...

...It's gone...did it talk to me?

...What's going on?

And just like that...I could feel again...but differently...

"I...wh...thanks, I think..." I muttered out confusedly.

Suddenly, the large vast yellow area I was in with the black and white clouds began to become brighter and brighter. And suddenly, I was blinded by the light, closing and covering my eyes because of it.

"'Ey, what do yer doin'? What kinduva trick is this?" said a strange voice.

"Huh?" I opened my eyes, and I found myself near more clouds, white ones, but this time there was blue instead of yellow...and there was green and blue and yellow and...well, land below me. Specifically, a...whatsits...lake, that's the word.

"Where in the...?"

"Stop gawkin' an' answer me, ya lout!" said the voice again.

I looked down, startled that I seemed to be on something. A...what's the word...a...something. It was covered in brown, and had long red and orange at the top, and had brown going out far to the side...wait, this is called a bird...right?

"Oh...hi...uh...wh-wh...what a-"

"Oh, forget about it, I'll get you down for ya."

"Oh, I...thanks, I thi-oooOOOHAAAAAA!"

Mid sentence, the bird spun around, and I fell off it. This was not good. I felt very afraid, and all I remember all the way down was "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaAaAaAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaa..."

And then it got all dark and black...

 _SPLOOOSH!_

* * *

...

...

...e...

..y...ke...

...ka...th..e...

...

...

HELLO?!

I made a very startled noise as I was suddenly shaken slightly at the shoulder.

"Mrrgh!"

"Hey, he's awake!"

"...Uh...?"

I noticed I was on my back, looking towards the...up...thing...sky? Yeah, that must be it, and those weird green things must be...something...? Honestly, I could not see anything very well, it was just all a large blur. Also, everything stung, like it hurt. I was then greeted by a red-and-green blob as it poked itself over me.

"You're okay...right?"

"...I...?"

"Yo, that's not how you handle someone who just fell out of the sky!"

Wait, who and where was this new voice?

"...who...is th-"

"Oh, come on, I at least got him to wake up!" responded my green, blobby buddy.

"Okay," said the voice, "that's good and all, but we need to see if he needs help, which I'm sure he does. Don't move him too much!"

"I have...body pain..." groaned myself.

"I'll bet you do," said the new voice, revealing itself as a sort of...pinkish-yellowish blob? Ack, why couldn't I see anything?

"Okay, well, let's get some help, and possibly something to lay him on. Got it?" said the yellow blob to the green one.

"Alright, I'll get a plank or something!" said the green one, exiting view.

I heard a loud breath-no, a sigh-coming from the yellow blob. "So, we're going to get you fixed up, okay? But, can you tell us a little about yourself?"

"I...well...I have pain...and everything is blobs..." I said slowly.

"Mhmm, alright, can you give us a name, Cubone?" responded the blob.

"...Who...what...?"

"I'm going to take that as a no. Alright, that's fantastic. You remember what happened at all?" he queried.

"...A bird flipped me off..." I said blearily, though the world around me was beginning to darken.

"...Wh-okay then, uh...oh, hold on, don't you...don't drift off now...worked so hard...keep awake...Cubone..."

* * *

How's it going? Good, I hope? Yeah...cool.

Listen, I do apologize, I've been meaning to finish up this story, but despite having time, I just...really dropped the ball on this one. So, yeah, this story is old, but dang it, I'm going to now finish it this time...hopefully.

Anyway, as to why I actually stopped last time, well...honestly I got a little ahead of myself. I bit off more than I could chew, you might could say. 7,000 words or whatever it was that I promised was too much for me. I buckled under the pressure, and now here we are, over a year later...yeah.

Actually, I was going to reboot this again in February, but due to laziness on my end, that fell through as well. If the story seems to jump in mood half-way through, you'll know why. Well, apart from the just jumbled nature of the chapter as a whole, which is intentional. It's a confusing time for everyone. After all, it's not every day that a Cubone just falls out of the sky, right?

Anywho, if you read the old story, you're probably guessing how things are going from here, but the thing is...well, the old one had MAJOR pacing issues. Like...really bad. Didn't really know where I was going, characters didn't really...do well...? Anyway, I promise to fix all of that come this new one.

Also, part of the pacing fix means that if you remember the old story, you may find that things may take a bit longer to get started than you might think, so...yeah.

Also, that other story I said I might do? Probably not going to follow through with that, unfortunately. If I have the time later, sure, but for now, I don't really remember the plot, and I have no real motivation to start that. That being said, I've got another story buzzing about my head that I might throw into a form less...fanfiction-y. You know, custom world and all of that? I'd be throwing a more...fictional feel on it, giving it a bit of a game feel to it. (after all, inspiration for it came from various games, which I won't be disclosing.)

Anyway, that's for a different time, and it's again, just an idea. But hey, plans change, you know.

For the time being, I'm going to just focus on one story.

Also, I have a job now! And School will happen too at some point. Don't expect as frequent of updates on this version as there was on the old one, which I do have to apologize for. So...1 new chapter a week? One benefit is that I can probably make these chapters a bit longer than in the old story, so that's good.

Another thing that will be inhibiting my ability to shove multiple chapters out per week is a developing case of carpal tunnel.

Yeah, carpal tunnel.

Anyway, in an effort to stop myself from droning on about my woes and prevent this chapter from seeming longer than it is, I'll go ahead and excuse myself now. I'll see if I can't get a second chapter done today...which would be interesting, but unlikely. Still, might as well get a lot done while I'm still motivated, eh?

Well, I'm off now.

Tschüs!

\- JacobDaGun


	2. Chapter 02 - Dr Bronson Rx

Writing stories while listening to music, and also having fireworks bursting all around you. I'm happy with all of that except the fireworks bit.

Also, crap, sorry, forgot to post this one, despite having it ready! Ack!

 **Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Shroud of Darkness**

 _Chapter 02: Dr. Bronson Rx_

* * *

I opened my eyes. Now where was I? It was all foggy, but not like that yellow, cloudy place. It was just a dull, average, gray fog.

"The heck?" I said to no one in particular.

A faint "The heck?" echoed back to me.

I waited a moment. "Hello?"

Again, I was met by my own faint echo.

I looked around, and saw nothing but the fog in every direction. I looked down, surprised to find a stony path below me, but my feet were all dark and misty, like they weren't quite there. I looked myself over more, and yep, more misty dark body. Troubled, I began to follow the path.

As I wandered, my eyes were drawn to a tall thing in the distance. I gazed at it for a moment, then continued onwards, noting that the path lead more-or-less towards that large thing. Upon approaching the area near it, the path branched out, one heading towards the big...monolith, and the other continuing onwards. I decided to check out the monolith.

I walked down the path a ways, stopping as the monolith came into full view. It was exactly as I had said; a large monolith. It was tall, dark, and had a strange shine to it, almost as if someone had half-heartedly polished it. It also felt...off...? I then noticed that there were cracks laced across the surface of it, like a giant spider's web. As I took a hesitant step forwards, a small object flew past my head. I recoiled, seeing that it was only a fuzzy...ball...of some sort...a wisp, perhaps? It floated along, oblivious to the world around it, but it was dark, and moved sluggishly. I saw more in the distance, the same dark color, and the same movement, though there was one or two that seemed to be brighter and more agile. Perhaps this area was sick?

I returned to the path, not wanting to get lost in the mist, and approached the monolith. The strange part, however, is that it didn't seem to be getting any closer. Then, I smacked my nose - or rather where my nose would have been - on the monolith. Bewildered, I looked up. It looked just as big up close as it had from a distance...did it shrink as I got close to it? Did I grow as I approached? I was confused, and a bit scared by this thing. I turned around and walked back down the path. I did turn around briefly to look at it, and it was just as big from afar as it had been up close...I quickened my pace slightly as I rejoined the path.

I saw another monolith in the distance, but this one stood out a bit more. As I approached the fork in the path for this monolith, I couldn't help but notice that this one seemed more alive. It gleamed a bit brighter, and though there were fewer wisps around it, more seemed lively and bright. It also wasn't as badly cracked as the last one. I hesitantly approached it, fearing it wouldn't actually get bigger when I approached. It did not. Luckily, I didn't run into it this time, since I had my hand out in front of me, so I felt it before I ran into it.

 _Ding..._

A sound reverberated through the area. Suddenly, all the wisps drew nearer. Startled, I backed up a bit.

The sound finished echoing, and the wisps swayed slightly as they stayed where they were. Hesitantly, I tried touching one. Instantly, I saw something inside the wisp, which looked like the back of that bird, flying over the lake. I looked about, confusedly. Slowly, I backed away from the monolith. I continued down the path.

I investigated many other monoliths, but they were all practically dead, very few of the wisps floating around looked like they were even remotely alive, and very few showed anything. The other one that seemed pretty lively had wisps that showed me pictures of little other things, like mountains or trees.

Eventually, I reached one that had a few wisps about, which showed little but the blobs from before and that bird. There was one, however, that looked...different. If it was possible, I would have said this one looked evil. I tried to reach out to it, but it darted away from my grasp every time I reached for it. Eventually, I managed to tap into it slightly.

And then the wisp made a very shrill noise.

 _KYYYYYYYYY!_

I backpedaled furiously, suddenly seeing a very ominous pair of unwavering red eyes staring daggers into me. I cried out, suddenly feeling very small and very afraid.

Then, just as suddenly as the wisp began to be scary, it went back to its business, floating away.

I could only lay there in shock for a moment before picking myself back up, dusting the nonexistent-dust off my nonexistent-legs - something I had just noticed - before noticing that the fog was getting...very dense. In fact...it was getting thicker by the second! I tried waving the fog away, but it just kept getting thicker and thicker, until eventually everything went dark and wet.

 _SPLISH!_

" **Owowowowow!** "

"Oh, sorry, forgot about...that, sorry!" cried a voice, who I recognized as the green-and-red blob from earlier.

"I...don't worry about it..." I said trying to wipe the water out of my eyes, but stopping as pain lanced up my arm. I cringed.

"Oh, don't do...that, yeah, don't do that."

I blinked the water away, surprised to see myself in some sort of...building? The walls seemed to be made of some sort of wood/clay-something combination, leaving me laying on a sort of surface covered in something kind of soft and kind of wooden. One wall had a hole covered with a curtain, and another wall having a window looking out, letting in a breeze. Some other bits of wood, such as split logs, formed tables and chairs, one table holding some strange items I couldn't figure out, the other under the window having a green-and-red figure sitting on a chair next to it.

"It's you, the blob!" I exclaimed, "...actually, no, I shouldn't call you...a...yeah...sorry..."

The figure gave me a strange look, and I looked a bit more closely at him, shifting my head painfully towards it.

He was mostly green, his head ending in a snout with 2 great yellow eyes sitting on top. His mouth and belly were red, and he had a large sort of green, leaf-like tail hanging off the other end of the seat.

"You...you're kind of strange, you know that?" responded the figure, who I decided looked a bit like a lizard of some kind.

"I...yeah. So, I...you saved me or something?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah," said the lizard, getting up towards me, "Me and my buddy Ian found you after you fell out of the sky." He sort of looked off to the side. "He said you told him something about flipping the bird about that..." he looked back to me, extending a hand. "Name's Mido!"

I looked at the hand, remembering the pain I felt in my arm a few moments prior.

"...Wait, right, you're all sore...nevermind," he said, looking a bit sheepish as he lowered his hand. "So, what's your name then?"

"Oh, I'm...I...oh..." my mind was drawing a complete blank. "I actually...don't remember."

"If I had to wager a guess, I'd say that you've got amnesia, friend," said a new voice, emerging through the curtain. This one was all creamy with pink on him, large ears, some sort of cloth apron on him, and a neat, white hat.

"Doctor Bronson, you surprised me!" said the lizard, now known as Mido.

"Oh, hello Mido. I assume you've come to check up on your friend here?" said the doctor.

"Oh, yeah...yes. Is he going to be okay?" asked Mido concernedly.

Man, what a nice guy. Here I am, a complete stranger, and he's concerned about me. That's awesome. I grinned slightly, my heart warmed.

"Well, he's not dead, so I think he'll live...though he ought to stay here for a while; I reckon that leg's knackered and his back's not much better," said the doctor thoughtfully, "Tell me, Cubone, do you think you can remember anything? Anything at all?"

"I...know what mountains are...?" I responded dumbly.

"I see," said the doctor, "Well, that's brilliant, then. Amnesia's not fatal, but not much I can do about that for the time being."

"Well, he's gotta have a name, right doctor?" said Mido.

"I feel like...maybe I can remember?" I asked, trying to sound hopeful.

"Well...I can call you...something..." said Mido, trailing off.

"Alright, you think of some names, I'll check our patient here." He said, pulling the curls on his ears out towards me. "I'll probably have to get Sylvie to check him out here in not too long," I head him murmur under his breath. "Alright, Cubone, don't move, I'm just going to check you out here..." he said, placing the ear curl on my head.

As he did so, I felt a strange warm-yet-cold feeling rush through my body, like laying your head on the cold side of a pillow. The feeling stayed for a bit, the doctor shuddering a bit as he did so, before removing it, the ear-curl curling back up into its natural, curly self.

"Yep, just as I feared, your back's in rough shape, and your leg's kapput. I'm afraid you'll need a few weeks on that for it to fix up, but I'll put a bandage around it, regardless. One moment, please."

And with that, Doctor Bronson left the room.

"So...if you ever remember your name, I'll call you that, but for now, can I just call you...Sky?" asked Mido, from his window seat.

"I...that doesn't sound...right..." I responded back, still a bit dazed at what just happened with the doctor's ears.

"Well, it's just for right now. If you ever remember your name, we'll call you that, okay?" he responded.

"I...but that's not my...hmm..." I stopped. Sure, the name was not fitting me very well, but...oh I don't know! I mean...just...it's not like...

"...Oh, for now, alright," I sighed. Sure, it wasn't my name, but it would do better than Cubone, which everyone was calling me for whatever reason. Hey, speaking of...

"Speaking of names, what's everyone calling me Cubone for?"

"...I...you really don't know anything, do you?" responded Mido, dumbfounded.

I shook my head very slightly, as not to hurt my neck.

"...Well, alright...how do I explain this...okay, here goes..." He breathed in. "So, I'm Mido, but I'm also a Treecko. Dr. Bronson is an Audino, Ian's an Archen, and you're a Cubone." He exhaled quickly. "If you don't know someone's name, we usually just call them by the name of their species. So, if someone didn't know my name, they'd call me Treecko. Got it?"

"...I think so," I responded, "so I'm a Cubone then? What's that?"

Mido looked at me for a split second before throwing his head back, making some sort of groan/chuckle. "Dude, you're absolutely clueless."

I kind of just glared at him after that.

"Well, Cubones are bonekeepers, and are usually pretty lonely, from what I've heard before," he said quickly.

"...huh..." I said.

We sat quietly for a moment.

"...So," said Mido, clearing his throat, "You...got a place to stay?"

"...I guess not, but I'm going to be here for a while, so I don't think I need anywhere to stay for a bit," I responded.

"Okay," came his reply.

A few seconds later, the doctor came bustling into the room, some bandages and sticks - among other things - were tucked under his arm.

"Alright, Cubone, I'v-"

"Sky," interrupted Mido, "We've decided on Sky...for right now."

The doctor looked back at him briefly. "That's fair. Now," he said, turning towards me, "I'm going to do a bit of a patch job with all of this, but I'm going to have to put you under to do it. You understand?"

"I...sure?" came my reply.

The doctor nodded. "Mido, I'll need you to leave now."

Suddenly, his eyes started...glowing. I felt like I was being drawn into them almost. What was this...?

Before I even knew it, sleep had once more taken hold.

* * *

Believe it or not, I finished this right after the last chapter. I'm on a roll!

Also, patiently awaiting (at the time of writing this) for Pokemon Go to come out...just keep waiting...

Anyway, I hope you all are liking this so far. I'm trying to take the story a bit slower than the old one. We covered less ground in these 2 chapters than the old one, but that's okay, because I'm being a lot more thorough. Chapter 1 was still the same stuff, and ended just about the same way, but it also had much more detail in it, don't you guys think?

Anyway, sorry if this outro's a little weird, it's like 12:00 in the morning, and I'm still not asleep. Whoopdedoo.

Still, if you guys have suggestions, feedback, anything, leave me a review, as I remember reading through reviews on the old one, and just...having a real good time.

...Speaking of old stuff, I think I'm going to put the compendium to rest as well. Not really enough there to keep it going, so I'll just junk it.

Anywho...not really sure where else I want to go with this end card, so...I'll just see you later then!

Au revoir!

\- JacobDaGun


	3. Chapter 03 - Mashing A Will Not Help

Hey, people actually remember this story? I call that a success.

 **Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Shroud of Darkness**

 _Chapter 03: Mashing "A" does not make them heal faster_

(Psst! Put the hr here.)

So, the days rolled on, quite slowly, as my body began the work of healing itself. Mido dropped by periodically to check in on me, and I did meet Ian the Archen, who looked like a colorful sort of reptile/bird mixture. He was kind to me as well, and despite former misunderstanding, we got along well. The doctor let me rest quite often, which led to me sleeping through a lot of it.

"Just curious, what do you guys do around here?" I asked Ian one day. (Mido was out...doing something.)

Ian sort of paused a moment, taking a deep breath as he was thinking. "Basically, me and Mido run a Rescue Team, who help Pokémon in trouble. We leave for a few days, even a week or so, to go out and rescue Pokémon who are in a jam."

"Oh, that's cool! Is it hard?"

Ian gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah, but there's something about helping out others that makes everything worth it."

"Huh..." I started thinking. "So...what do I do after I get out of this...place?" I asked.

He clicked his tongue, staring at the wall for a moment, before he responded; "I...I don't know, but we should probably try and get you back home somewhere. Maybe we can visit the Rescue Guild after your leg's better and see if anyone's reported any missing Pokémon. We should try to get you home."

I turned towards Ian then. "Sounds like a plan...although I kinda get the feeling I'm very far from home."

"Hmm...well, if that fails, we should try to get you set up here. I think trying to get your memory fixed would be a good point to start off."

"Yeah..." I said, returning my view to the ceiling.

Just about then, Mido came walking in, a bundle of cloth wrapped under his arm.

"Sky, I found them!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, Mido, I...found what?" I asked in a confused way.

He unwrapped the cloth bundle on the table Ian was sitting at. I turned my head to see what it was.

"It's your skull and your bone!" he explained.

Yep, those were definitely a skull and a bone. The bone was...well, it was a bone. It looked surprisingly long, and looked a bit like a...femur, I guess. The skull, however, was sort of long too. It had some sort of snout on it, what could have been fangs on the mouth, two great holes where eyes would've gone, holes up front for nostrils, and it had 2 short horns coming off the back.

I stared at them for a moment, puzzled, perplexed. Sure, they looked...sort of vaguely familiar, but I really couldn't place my finger on it. "Alright, and what about it?" I asked.

Mido and Ian looked at eachother, in varying degrees of shock. "You mean...you mean you don't know what these are?" said Mido, bewildered.

I shook my head slightly.

"Well," said Ian, cutting off whatever it was Mido was going to say, "Cubones are bonekeepers, right? Well, they wear their mother's skull, and they use bones as weapons. Does that ring any bells?"

"I...no?"

Ian just sort of shook his head. "Alright. Well, let's leave 'em here anyway, since they are yours."

I could feel their disbelief at just how far-reaching my amnesia was.

-HR-

Jump forward a few days after those two brought me in to this clinic, they approached me, with various pieces of gear and a strange look in their eye.

"Hey guys," I said, weakly motioning my arm towards all of their equipment, "what's all that for?"

"Yeah, hi Sky," said Mido, his voice a bit heavy.

"Well, you remember how we told you about being in a Rescue Team and all that, yeah?" asked Ian.

"Yes, I do," I responded, "why do you ask?"

"Me and Mido are gonna be gone for a few days, we just wanted to let you know. You think you can hang on 'till we get back?"

"...Oh." was my response.

I didn't want them to leave, since I didn't have anyone else I really knew. Oh sure, there was Dr. Bronson, and he was friendly enough, but...

"It's just a little bit, Sky!" said Mido, sudden happiness in his voice.

"...I...yeah, I think I'll survive that long."

"Alright, we'll...we'll be back in a few days, then!" said Mido.

"Yeah, you...just be good until we get back, alright?" said Ian.

I nodded.

"Okay, then...we'll...bye then, Sky," said Mido. He lightly grabbed my shoulder, looking at me with a bit of a heavy grin, before he and Ian left out the door.

"...Bye guys..." I called softly to them.

Oh, how I would miss their company...

-HR-

Thankfully, the days began to get a bit less bland as Dr. Bronson told me that he thought I was healthy enough to begin to walk around, albeit with aid. Still, it was infinitely better than laying on a slightly uncomfortable bed all day. When I would go out for my walks, Nurse Ellie would help me. She was all blue, had 4 legs, a long trunk which she would use to grab things, big ears, and a weird red band over her forehead; a Phanpy, as I was told later.

"Oh, don't fall over!" she said quickly, catching me by the shoulder, "you shouldn't do that!"

"You think I'm trying?" I told her, giving her a slight grin.

She smiled back, pleased as punch to be helping me out. "Well, I keep telling you that, and eventually you're gonna stop trying to!"

I grabbed hold of my crutches once more, adjusted them under my arms again, and resumed my walk. One of my more favorite things to do during this time was visiting some of the other patients. There weren't too many, most people just in the clinic because of rescue missions or other infirmities.

There was Violet, who was yellow and black with long ears – A Helioptile – who was also a Rescue Team member, who was dragged in thanks to a bad time at a cave somewhere. There was Remmy, with black fur, a red belly, white bands everywhere, and another white thing on his head – A Houndour – who was Violet's comrade. There was Oliver, who had jagged brown-and-white fur – a Zigzagoon – who had gotten trapped in some sort of cave-in.

I'd go over others, but we'd be here all day potentially.

As I was heading along, Ellie slowly grabbed me and took me down a different direction.

"Hey, I want to show you someone!" she told me.

"Oh, I-alright, who is it?" I asked.

"Well...let me show you!"

I followed, not having too much of a choice.

We reached the room and headed inside. Inside, there was a blue Pokémon laying on the bed, with hard, white ridges across his head, and a yellow belly. He was also covered in numerous cuts and bruises, had bandages covering a few parts of him, and had a very large bandage stuck over half his head.

Ellie gave him a gentle nudge with her trunk, and his eyes fluttered open. He groaned in discomfort. Oh boy, I knew that feeling...

"Hello, Bagon! This is Sky!" said she.

"...Oh...I see..." grunted Bagon.

"So his name's Bagon?" I asked.

"Nonono, he can't remember his name either. He's a Bagon, so that's what we're calling him." explained Ellie.

I could begin to see why she brought me here. I approached the Bagon.

"Well, hello then," I said, gently grabbing his hand with mine before releasing it. The Bagon gave a faint, weak smile.

"...Sky, huh?" he asked.

"Well...sort of? That's what they're calling me, at least until I can remember my name," I explained.

"...You...you can't remember anything...can you?" he asked between breaths.

I shook my head. "I guess we're in the same boat then with amnesia?"

He gave a light chuckle. "...Yeah, I...I guess so..."

"A Rescue Team brought him in from Baron's Peak, where he fell out of the sky! Just like you did, Sky!" said Ellie.

Suddenly, I had a thought. "Hey, uh just curious, but have you had any...sort of memories abo-"

"Ellie...why are you here with Sky?" asked a voice behind me.

I turned around, and saw Dr. Bronson.

"But sir, I thought it w-would be good for him to meet someone else, since he...really doesn't see anyone, so I brought Sky in here to meet him, b-because they've both got amnesia and all o-"

Dr. Bronson put up a hand to stop her. "No no, Ellie, you are not in trouble. You can calm down. However, I would like you to notify me before you take visitors in here. Bagon is in very bad condition, so we need to keep a close eye on him. Alright, Ellie my dear?"

"Y...y-yeah!" she stammered.

"Alright," he said, turning towards me, "I've been looking for you, Sky. I've brought in someone who might be able to help you with your memory."

"I...you do?"

"Yes, her name is Sylvie," explained the doctor, "Why don't you two follow me back to Sky's room, and I will introduce you there?"

Me and Ellie nodded, and she accompanied me back to my room. Inside, I was greeted by a pink Pokémon with large, tufty ears, a jewel in the middle of her forehead, and a tail that split in half towards the end. Behind her was a white Pokémon with large brown ears, a strange pointy bit on his head, and the end of his tail was fluffy with green on the end, which he was holding in one hand.

The doctor gestured at the two. "Sky, this is Syl-"

The pink one, who I assumed to be Sylvie, cut him off then, her voice surprisingly cold. "I feel he's already aware of who I am." She studied me for a brief moment. "I'm surprised you called me in for this, Bronson, can you not remedy this yourself? Did I teach you nothing?"

He looked surprised by this comment. "This is unfortunately beyond my expertise. Did I not explain this in the letter?"

Sylvie closed her eyes for a moment. "Shall we begin then?"

Ellie helped me up to the bed.

"Who's your friend?" I asked Sylvie.

She stared at me for a moment. "Let us not waste time here. Giuseppe, we're beginning."

The white Pokémon, Giuseppe presumably, nodded. The two came to the bedside, Ellie moving swiftly out of the way.

"You, Cubone, please calm yourself, as we're going to begin now. Do not panic."

I nodded. I then noticed her eyes and her jewel light up. All I could do was look into those eyes, as everything around me began to become darker. Eventually, everything became black, save the glow of the eyes, though those too began to darken themselves, until all was a black void.

(Put another one here!)

Well, there you have it folks.

Initially, I wanted a cliffhanger here, but I decided against it. Plus, what part I was going to put on the end will now be the start of a new chapter. Ain't that something?

...Why do I tell you guys these things...?

Anyway, in case I forgot to mention, I'm actually writing a few chapters in advance. I just posted the first chapter yesterday, as of writing this. Hopefully that lets me be a bit more...punctual with my chapters.

Anyway...not really sure what to write here, other than thanks for the support thus far. I honestly thought you all forgot I even existed, but Kataia is still there, supportive as always. 10 views already on the first chapter? Absolutely excellent.

Anyway, I'd better get ready for work now...because I need money for college...yeah...

Auf Wiedersehen!

\- JacobDaGun


	4. Chapter 04 - How to Save a Mind

So...as of me writing this, I had actually forgotten to post Chapter 2 until just now basically. ^_^'

 **Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Shroud of Darkness**

 _Chapter 04: How to Save a Mind_

* * *

Slowly, the black began to fade away into a foggy gray. Wait...no, this was that...that place with the monoliths! I'd been here once or twice more while I was here, but nothing new or exciting really happened. Just new wisps and slightly more lively monoliths.

"Here we are," said a cold voice.

I turned around, surprised to see Sylvie and Giuseppe there.

"This looks a bit different from other minds we've been in..." said Giuseppe in a strangely deep, gravel-y voice.

"Hush...we're not alone," said Sylvie.

Giuseppe immediately began looking about.

"...The Cubone?!" she exclaimed suddenly.

I retreated a step or two.

[Yes, it's me...?]

Wait, that wasn't quite speech...what?

Sylvie looked quite stunned for a moment longer. "Well...I suppose we should take him along...Giuseppe!" she cried.

Giuseppe came trotting over. Sylvie nodded at him, and he began waving the end of his tail around in the air in an odd fashion. As he waved his tail about, a brown...thing began to take shape. It looked small, had a lighter belly, a snout, horns, tail, and some back spikes...wait, that's kind of...like me?

"Cubone, come here and get into this," she said.

[I...okay!]

I approached the Cubone in front of me, when suddenly I was sucked into it.

And now...everything felt more like I existed...

"There, now follow us, we will fix your lost memory." said Sylvie.

I was...confused and amazed at the same time. I kind of just followed along in silence, amazed by the simple joy of being able to walk unaided, which took a little getting used to.

Still, one question was hot on my mind; what kind of Pokémon was Sylv-

"I'm known as an Espeon, and my companion is a Smeargle," explained Sylvie.

I was surprised once again. Could she read my thoughts or some-

"I'm inside your mind, of course I can," said Sylvie.

I was dumbfounded. "...Okay."

"Now, I'm going to say that you've been here on more than one occasion. Correct?" asked Sylvie.

"I...yeah, actually," I responded, "is that bad?"

"No..." came her response.

I almost felt like she was...withholding information, but I couldn't be sure.

Then, as if to justify my thoughts, she gave a brief sigh.

I could see in the distance one of the monoliths. Giuseppe seemed quite intrigued by it, judging by his expression. When we got closer, intrigue changed to concern. We all remained silent as we approached.

"Stop." said Sylvie suddenly.

I did just that, and just before I smacked into the monolith myself.

The monolith seemed surprisingly lively today, though there was still a lot of dull wisps floating about, and cracks still laced the surface like a spider's web. Giuseppe then began to concentrate, and started making motions, when Sylvie stopped him with her tail.

"Not yet, there's...there's some thing very strange about all of this..." she said.

"Wait, what's wrong?" I said.

She sighed heavily, scrutinizing the pillar with her eyes. She paused a moment, then. "So what do you know of these, then?" she asked me.

I thought for a moment. I knew that the wisps had to be memories, so I figured that the monoliths must be some sort of way to keep them organized or something.

"You would be correct," said Sylvie.

That would never cease to surprise me, would it?

She motioned to a wisp floating past. "Those are indeed memories. They make the whole of your entire knowledge of everything. These obelisks are the foundation on which memories are stored. If the obelisk is damaged, so too are the memories." She turned towards me. "To restore your memories, we must repair the obelisks."

I nodded slowly. The thought then occurred to me, the thought of just how badly damaged these obelisks were.

"If this one is anything to go by, it's in dire shape," she responded.

...Oh.

She studied the monolith a bit, and the memories floating around it, as well as even the empty, foggy void around us. I almost felt she was keeping something from me, but I couldn't tell what. I also figured that even if I asked, she wouldn't tell me, so I decided I would keep my concerns to myself and move on.

She breathed out quickly, before turning to her assistant. "Giuseppe, now."

He began to move once more, closing his eyes as he took a broad stance. He remained still for some time, as Sylvie herself then began concentrating, her eyes and jewel glowing. As she did so, I could see the cracks along the surface of the monolith begin to glow very slightly. I took a few steps back, not wanting to be in their way.

Giuseppe opened his eyes then, a strange green hue to them, as he took his tail and began to make very large motions with it, almost as if he were trying to paint the monolith from a distance. As he did so, bright lines appeared along the surface of the monolith, covering the glowing cracks. Stroke after stroke, the pillar was gradually covered in glowing lines. The duo eventually began moving slowly around the monolith as well, covering every side. I watched them work silently, seeing the gradual covering of the entire structure.

Fast forward a bit, and Giuseppe finished the last stroke, and the two relaxed, the glow disappearing from their eyes. The bright lines slowly began to fade, and as they did so, the monolith itself began to shine a little bit more. I even noticed a small number of the memories coming back, fading from gray to white.

As everything settled, the obelisk seemed more lively than I had ever seen it, though I still saw that it was still quite dead, especially considering that probably only 1/8th of the memories seemed to be present. I then felt something akin to a cool breeze flow through my head for a brief moment, which felt really weird and kind of calming at the same time.

"Not everything is complete, but this will allow these memories to recover by themselves better," said Sylvie, turning my way, "but you'll remember events much better now."

"We should make progress on the other Pillars of Memory now, Madame Silvers," said Giuseppe.

She gave a curt nod in response. She pulled me along as we left the monolith behind us.

* * *

I would fill you in on what we did from there, but it was nothing but that from there on out. If you really need the details, just read those paragraphs up there a few more times, and you'll get the picture. As for conversation...really any attempt I made was met with silence.

As the glow disappeared from the final monolith, memories popping back into color, Sylvie and Giuseppe breathed sighs of relief.

"It is done," remarked Giuseppe.

Sylvie then paused, brushing right past Giuseppe as she walked away from the obelisk, but not on the path.

"M-M-Madame Silvers!" exclaimed Giuseppe.

She walked a few steps forward more before stopping, and then she looked up and around. I looked myself, trying to see what she was looking at. Then, I saw it: the black memory. The one with red eyes and an evil presence. Sylvie looked very tense all of a sudden.

"...We are leaving now, Giuseppe, Cubone," she said, with an almost urgent tone.

Not knowing what was happening, I followed them as they hurried away from the obelisk. Even Giuseppe looked a bit more than just worried.

When we finally stopped, we were on the main path again. Sylvie immediately turned to me, a mix of anger, confusion, and fear on her face.

"Who are you?!" she exclaimed.

I backpedaled, very startled and somewhat scared. "I-I what? Huh?" My mouth was not in sync with my head, was it?

Sylvie glared at me intensely for what seemed like an hour. Nothing existed around us, save for Giuseppe – who had cleared the area – her furious expression, and the rapid drumming of my heart. Eventually, her resolve disappeared, and she returned to her normal expression, though fire still burned in her eyes.

"We leave now," she told Giuseppe, her voice so sharp you could have cut a hair with it.

Giuseppe was by her side so quickly, it would have been slower to teleport to her. Giuseppe also pointed his tail at me, scribbling in the air towards me. I suddenly felt a lot less...present.

[Wait, what's the big deal? What's going on?]

Just as I (Said? Thought?) this, Sylvie's eyes glowed once more, and in a blinding flash they were gone.

After that bright flash of light, the world around me seemed much darker than before...and continued to get darker and darker. Eventually, I was enveloped by fog, and everything went black.

* * *

As I became aware of myself once more, I found myself waking grogglily. I stared around me for a moment, seeing Sylvie, hackles raised, talking to the doctor.

"...nd now we must rest. You have quarters prepared?" she said in a firm tone, almost more of a demand than an actual question.

Bronson himself looked quite taken back himself. "Yes of course, I have. They are down the hal-"

"Good, we will rest there then. Come, Giuseppe," she responded quickly.

The two left the room, determination and confusion – from Sylvie and Giuseppe respectively – evident in their stride.

We all sat silently, quietly processing what just happened.

"...What's eating her?" I asked timidly, afraid I'd somehow done something wrong.

Bronson took a long pause before shaking his head. "I've never fully understood her."

I cocked an eyebrow (I think I had eyebrows...) at him, silently begging an explanation.

"Don't worry, you've done nothing wrong. Just...rest for now, alright?" he responded.

I nodded slowly, still concerned. I laid back down, troubled. Ellie looked worried too as she looked me in the eye. Happily, she tried to strike up conversation.

"So do you remember anything cool, Sky?" she said, hiding her troubles behind a smile.

I searched my thoughts for a moment, realizing I could remember quite a lot more...but nothing that quite made sense. Shadowy figures danced within my thoughts, making friendly gestures despite the lack of details. Odd places came to mind, structures which seemed familiar, but so cloaked in fogginess I could not make them out. Vague notes chimed through my head, but nothing connected together. But suddenly, peaking out like the sun hiding in an overcast sky, came one thought, one memory, one name that shrieked its existence to the stars and beyond.

"...Jacob," I said slowly.

The name struck a chord in me, a bright, warm, happy chord that swept away my troubles and filled my chest with joy. A smile grew on my lips.

"Hah?" asked Ellie. Dr. Bronson looked interested as well.

"...Jacob!" I said, with a little more enthusiasm.

It was my name! Oh, a memory I had been searching for my entire time here! It could not have been a better day! I could feel my eyes closing by themselves as for one last time the name escaped my lips, bursting like a bubble of happiness.

"Jacob..."

And then...blissful, peaceful sleep...

* * *

Agh...my wrist is hurting...

Oh, sorry, uh...yeah, story!

I do feel bad for not writing there for a while, but in my defense, I'm easily distracted by video games. I hope you'll forgive me there.

Also, as of writing this, reviewers are returning! I might be doing Reviewer's Corner again, but I'm not certain as of yet, so...yeah.

Also, mystery! What does that black memory have to do with anything? Why is it so scary? Why did I name the main character after myself again? Why am I asking all these questions that I also know all the answers to myself, making them somewhat rhetorical in nature? So. Many. Questions!

...Yeah...that's about it...

I should probably go get ready for work now or something...

Anyway, I'll end this off now.

Au revoir!

\- JacobDaGun


	5. Chapter 05 - Premonition and Friendship

Why do I get addicted to video games...?

 **Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Shroud of Darkness**

 _Chapter 05: Of Premonitions and Friendships_

* * *

After I passed out, I ended up sleeping fitfully for the remainder of the day. I kept randomly waking up for a few minutes at a time, vague memories dripping from my lips as mere whispers of something...unknown. I was completely out of it however, so whatever I ended up muttering was a mystery to me. Ellie tells me that I murmured out many things, like Mido and Ian's names, other names she didn't recognize (like Samhwel...who I'm not entirely sure of either), also a few jumbled sentences, names of foods, and even humming a small number of little tunes that were unrecognizable.

The day continued on as normal from there on out, with Ellie checking in on me periodically. Soon, the sky began to darken, the moon chasing away the sun to cover the sky with her blanket of stars. It was getting to the point now where when I would wake up to mutter things, I would be a bit more aware of what was actually going on.

As the night drew on, daylight Pokémon snuggling up in their homes and dens for the evening and the nighttime Pokémon busying themselves for the night ahead. It was around then, that I woke up again, fully aware now.

"Gi plug pu melon nai-who?" I asked around my dark room groggily. I had heard a noise, but couldn't identify it.

Eventually, I made out a ghostly white figure standing near the entryway and something glinting in the faint moonlight.

[You, Cubone.]

...That wasn't my thought...

[This is Sylvie. I need to tell you something.]

I paused, understanding now. "Alright, shoot," I whispered towards the gleam.

[Remain quiet, no one must know we have departed.]

Well, alright then, I guess. But why were they leaving...?

[Understand, Cubone, that I have no love nor trust for you.]

Ouch.

[However, you leave me perplexed. I sense you have some greater role, some greater purpose to complete.]

A greater role...? I barely know what's even going on around here and with myself!

[I will discuss this matter further with others, as I feel this must go deeper than I can see.]

...What makes me so special? All I did was fall out of the sky and forget everything.

[I will leave you with this, however.]

I saw something being lifted kinetically to the table next to me, something shaped roughly like a lump.

[Do not lose this, as this will let me or any of my associates to contact you.]

The white figure and the gleam then went out the entryway.

[Goodbye, Cubone. Do not tell anyone of this meeting.]

I laid my head back down onto the mat, processing everything. What greater purpose could an amnesiac cubone have? I pursed my lips together, shaking my head. I then reached over to the item that had been deposited onto the table. Sure enough, it was wrapped up in some cloth, burlap perhaps. I carefully opened the cloth, finding some sort of...well, it was shiny, I knew that much. Pulling it fully out of the bag, I saw that it was a necklace or pendant of some kind. By holding it up just right, I could make out some of the details, my eyes adjusting to the dark.

The pendant itself was strange. A small disc of some sort of metal surrounded a pale stone, with some sort of flecking on it. The disc had some decorations around the sides, though I couldn't make them out. Other than that, there was just a leather cord connected to it, some sort of twine or string bound around the cord. Carefully, I rewrapped the pendant in the cloth, and replaced it back onto the table.

I pondered Sylvie's message for a few more minutes, wondering what she meant by a greater purpose, who these "others" she was going to contact were, and why she had to leave so suddenly and so discreetly. Soon after I started to think of these things, I found myself asleep once more.

 **::::::::::::::::::::**

Soon, the sun decided it was time to send the moon and her starry cohorts scurrying, as dawn began to lighten the sky. The mountains gleamed with a halo of light as the sun prepared to make his long journey across the sky. Slowly, I cracked my eyes open. Blearily, I sat myself up a bit, rubbing the crusts out of my eyes as the remnants of my dreams floating away.

I sat there, recalling the events of the night prior. What Sylvie had said was still gnawing at me...or was that my stomach? Either way, I looked at the cloth-wrapped pendant from last night, removing it from the burlap as I gave it a better examination. Oddly, in the morning light, the flecks on the pale stone seemed to glow in a myriad of color. The designs etched into the disc were now more clear; there was 2 sort of sharp ovals crossing over each other, making sort of a plus-shape. Another, smaller set of these was set in more of an x-shape, making a sort of 8-pointed...what could've been a flower, I suppose.

There were also strange, somewhat circular markings around the edges. They...almost looked familiar, like I had seen them before. I racked my head for a moment, trying to see if I could possibly remember where or when I might have seen something like this before, but nothing was coming to mind. Sighing, I re-wrapped the pendant, placing it onto the table next to the upturned skull – my upturned skull. I grabbed that as well and looked it over, out of boredom and slight interest, considering I had examined the skull perhaps 5 or 6 times before. There were still the same cracks, the same shape, the same everything. This time, however, I searched my memories a bit, looking for anything familiar about the skull, but no brilliant memory of this being mine came to mind. Sure, I could _feel_ that this was likely mine, but again, nothing concrete. I returned it to the table and dumped the bundle of cloth inside it.

I laid myself back down, staring at the ceiling for a long while, my eyes blinded by me flicking through memory after memory, seeing if anything was of any interest. Despite the recovery of my memories, nothing seemed very clear; It was as if a shroud of darkness had blanketed everything.

 **::::::::::::::::::::**

"So you are awake," said Dr. Bronson.

I jumped a bit, not expecting a sudden voice. I sat myself upright slightly, looking towards the door where the doctor had stuck in his head.

"Uh, yeah, I've been up for a little bit now," I said, yawning to emphasize my point.

He gave a slight nod as he hummed to himself. "Well, I think you have some visitors," he said.

I gave a slightly confused stare. Visitors at this hour? And who would be visiting me? My thoughts were soon answered as I noticed a green blur whiz pass Bronson and to my bedside.

"Sky, we're back!" exclaimed a familiar voice as he placed his hands on the bed. It took my mind a moment to register that it was Mido standing next to me.

"...Oh, hey!" I said back.

"And where was this energy earlier?" said Ian in a grouchy tone as he entered the room. I could see dark circles under his eyes, so I safely assumed he was pretty tired.

I was suddenly grabbed by Mido, who clasped his arms around me in a firm grip. The motion caught me by surprise, and I sat there like a dead fish for about a second before I realized he had just hugged me. I awkwardly put up an arm to return the favor. As I did so, he tightened his grip, squeezing me.

" _OwowowowOWOWOWOWOW!_ " I exclaimed, lowering my arm. Suddenly, I was released, and I flopped back onto the mat with a soft thud.

"Ow."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sky!" said Mido, with an expression like he'd just killed me.

I moaned a bit and shook my head, waving it away with my hand. "It's all good, don't worry," I responded, polite despite my pain.

"Please, be careful, Mido," scolded Ian, whacking Mido lightly with his wing.

I gave Mido a thumbs-up and a grin, which seemed to put him a little more at ease. Ian strolled over to Bronson.

"So how has he been doing?" he asked.

Bronson, who was biting his lip (likely due to the assault from Mido) then turned to the duo. "He has improved," said the doctor, looking at the two of them, "We recently had a specialist come to look at his memories. I assume she succeeded," he paused, looking perturbed for a moment, "but I think it will take time for his memory to recover fully. However, he has regained some measure of mobility, and I believe he will be able to move himself around unaided in a few days."

Ian nodded as Mido gave a slightly sad stare in my direction.

"Huh...alright," I responded.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I would like to speak to Sylvie for a moment," said the doctor, stepping away from the door slowly as he left.

After a brief moment, Mido spoke up. "So you're gonna be stuck here for a few more days, Sky?"

"Sounds like it," said Ian.

"Jacob," I responded back, realizing that they didn't know yet.

They both turned to me, staring for a moment. Mido soon found a smile and was wearing it in no time. "You remembered your name?"

I nodded.

"Yaaay!" he exclaimed, dancing around in a small circle.

"That's a weird name," said Ian, "still, that's awesome that you remembered that."

"Danke," I responded.

Ian gave me another weird look. I, myself, had a confused look as well. Danke? Where did that come from?

About then, Dr. Bronson stuck his head back inside the room, a worried look laying heavily on his brow. "They're gone!" he exclaimed.

I knew immediately what he was talking about, though I feigned confusion to match the expressions of my friends.

"Who's gone?" asked Ian, tilting his head.

"Sylvie and her assistant. They've both disappeared!" he responded.

Me and Ian's confused expressions soon turned to surprise.

"What?" I asked, trying to sound as surprised as possible.

Dr. Bronson thought for a moment, then spoke. "Did you, by chance, see them leave last night, Sk-er...Jacob?"

I shook my head. The doctor drummed his fingers along the doorframe, pursing the corner of his lip, before pushing himself away and turning to locate their whereabouts. As he left, Mido suddenly piped up.

"Hey, what's this?" he asked.

I turned my head, surprised to see him holding the cloth bundle. I hid my momentary shock behind a confused façade.

"Heck if I know," I said, shrugging a shoulder, "where did you find that at?"

"Inside this skull," said Mido.

"...Huh...can I see it?" I asked.

"Sure," he responded, handing the thing over.

I unwrapped it carefully, looking at it with a curious eye. As the pendant was slowly revealed, I faked awe at it, marveling again at the details. That being said, that wasn't too difficult considering that this thing truly did interest me.

Ian joined us as we looked at it. He then pointed a claw at the symbols circling the edge.

"That...that looks like those markings we saw at those ruins, Mido!" he exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, it does!" said Mido.

"What ruins?" I asked with genuine curiosity.

Ian looked at me, his stare slightly uncomfortable and long. "Mido and I had to rescue someone out of some ancient ruins of some...temple or something. Anyway, we saw weird marks on the walls, and some of the marks even tried to attack us. These look like those markings."

"...Huh..." was all I could say.

"Yeah..." responded Mido.

We all sat in silence for a moment. I began carefully wrapping the pendant in the burlap once more.

"So, once you get out of here, I think we should check the Post Office to see if they know about anything," said Ian, "But right now, Mido, I think we should check in with Dr. Bronson and see if we can crash here for a little bit."

"Why...is that?" asked Mido, yawning mid-sentence.

"Because I want to sleep, and I don't want to hike a step further," said Ian. He then left the room abruptly, his stride leaving no room for any argument.

"Okay...alright," said Mido, slowly shuffling towards the door. "We'll see you later...Jacob!" He waved at me as he left the room.

After the two left, I began to think. Could we really find my home again? I still felt doubtful, having the strange sense of...distance from home. Honestly, it felt like home was worlds away. Family I had left behind only to forget...oh how they must worry about me. Would I ever see them again? In fact...would I ever remember them again? Suddenly, I began to feel sad, alone. As the light of a new day beamed brilliantly across the face of the earth, filling the world with a brilliant light and the hopes of a new day, tears fell to the ground. Silently, I wept for the family I had lost, and I knew those empty faces in my mind wept as well, silently mourning their lost son and brother.

I had lost my family, they had lost me, and I was almost certain we would never again see each other again.

* * *

Okay, wow, that took a sad turn there at the end that I did not actually plan at all.

Also, I apologize for not posting that one week. In my defense, I thought I had already posted Chapter 4, and also because some of my coworkers have been leaving lately for school, I've had to step up my hours every week, so I do apologize. That being said, it was actually a good idea for me to write in advance, because I've actually had little time to write, so I've basically used all of my buffer room up. So, I'll stay up late on occasional nights writing just to make sure I'm still ahead of the game.

But...not too much...because I don't want to work myself to death. I'd just do this until I got caught up with everything.

Also, next week is a week I have off with family, so I don't know how much writing will happen there either. I apologize, but my schedule varies wildly from week to week, so I barely ever know what I'm working for a week until about half-way through the previous week.

On the plus side, extra hours = extra money...so that's cool.

Oh, and I think another reason I've been slacking off so hard on these chapters is because I've found that Hammerwatch is really quite addicting. And so is Starbound. And so is Golden Sun (which I've never played until recently, and I'm having a blast, so I would highly recommend it). Yeah...if I'm gonna do this thing, I need to stop playing so many video games, I guess.

...Plus that probably doesn't help my carpal tunnel very much to play so many games...and if I stay up late playing them, then it's hard to wake up in the mornings...yeah, I just need to not play so many games. Sorry about that!

Alright, onto more positive matters, I'm thinking I'm writing a little better. At least...I hope I'm writing better.

That's...actually probably all I have to say.

Oh yeah! I forgot!

So, because I failed that one week in getting Chapter 4 out, I think it'll take me a bit, but I'll post 2 chapters in one week coming up soon, probably the week after I come back from my aunt's house, since I'll need to write the chapter for that week in advance so I have something to post while I'm up there. Or, if I just was a writing machine for the next little bit, I could probably do it this week, but that would be me trying to write 3 chapters in a week. I know I've done that in the past, but also in the past, I didn't have to worry about a job, and my chapters were a lot shorter, so that might be a bit of a tall order, but I might be able to do it.

...Also, if anyone has any ideas on how to code a physics engine, hitboxes, solid controls, a combo mechanic, or basically any other part of a game, that would be pretty swell, because I think I should at least try and start coding this game idea before I push it off forever...which I would hate, because this idea has been developing in my head for over 7-ish years, and I don't want to put it off very much longer.

...Alright, sorry for ladening you with personal woes...

Okay, so that probably wraps up the note stuff for this chapter...

Oh right, one last thing.

I have a question for you guys:

Would you like me to do the Reviewer's Corner segments again? I'd do it in a way so that when a chapter posts, I have the reviews from the previous chapter up, and not the reviews from whatever chapter just went up when I was writing that chapter. Thoughts, opinions, questions?

That being said, I really, really enjoy reading your reviews. Like...seriously, they do make a difference. I don't want everyone to write a review, that just sounds mean, but I do love to read reviews.

...Sorry if I'm being a bit too personal here...

Anywho...yeah...

Anyway, if you're here reading this part, thanks for bearing with me while reading that text wall.

Yeah...I'll just go ahead and throw in my customary foreign "farewell" and save this to my computer...

Гарного дня!

\- JacobDaGun


	6. Chapter 06 - A Breath of Fresh Air

Ah frick, I didn't quite get this done before I left for my aunt's house...oh well...

 **Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Shroud of Darkness**

 _Chapter 06: A Breath of Fresh Air_

 **:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

I'll be honest, the next few days weren't very interesting. Ian and Mido left after a few hours, seeming a little more happy than they were previously. Dr. Bronson was checking on me every other day at this point, making sure I was ready to be on my own. Not to mention I rarely needed Ellie to help me up and down the hallway anymore. Mido was checking in on me what seemed about twice a day, making sure I was alright. He still had taken to calling me Sky, which I didn't really mind. While I could feel memories starting to come back, they were all still murky and unclear.

About midday a few days later, I found myself being escorted along by Ellie to the front entrance. The room was large, had a few seats scattered around the walls, some short, small tables, and a larger, broader counter-like thing made of split logs. Behind there was Dr. Bronson, and Mido and Ian were seated nearby. I was escorted to a seat nearby, as Bronson came around the corner of the counter.

"I do believe I have done everything I can do for our amnesiac friend," he began, "so I believe that it is time for him to leave here."

I gave a concerned look as Ian nodded and Mido gave the brightest grin he could muster.

"I...are you sure?" I asked.

"Oh of course," he responded, seating himself next to a table, "I feel the best thing for you now is to have some time out and about."

I gave a cautious nod.

"Now, before we do anything, I will need to ask you two a question," he said, turning to my new friends.

"I'm listenin'," said Ian.

"We need someone to release him to. Since no nearby relatives have been found, I believe you two will be the next best option." His tone became more serious now. "Do you agree to be his caretaker?"

Ian gave himself a moment before giving a resolute nod.

"And you, Mido?"

"Y-yeah, yeah I can!" stammered Mido.

"Very well, then," said Bronson. He reached for a weird little board next to him, which had a rolled-out piece of what was probably parchment or papyrus. The papyrus had some bizzare markings on it, what I could only assume to be some sort of writing. "I need you three to sign this," he said, pushing the board and a strange stylus towards us.

Ian took both, analyzing the writing before marking the paper further with those weird symbols. He then passed it to Mido, who took a very brief glance at it before adding a few sloppy symbols. Then, the set of items was passed to me. Up-close, the markings made even less sense. I couldn't tell one thing from another, and it all just looked very confusing to me.

"Uh...I...don't know what I'm doing here..." I admitted.

"Just sign the page," said Bronson. Ian gave me a strange look.

"Well, yeah, but...I..." I said, trailing off.

Mido silently pointed at a blank part of the page. I nodded slightly. I took the stylus, and holding it in a very awkward position, I carefully placed a shaky X where it was blank. I then returned the two to Dr. Bronson, who gave me an odd stare before reviewing our signatures.

"...Hmm...I think everything looks right," he said after a long pause, "Everything appears to be in order." He placed down the page. "With that, I now release Jacob to the care of Ian and Mido. Have a safe travel, and do not forget your belongings."

Ellie then came up, lugging a small bag with her. I could see the end of a bone sticking out of the top. Mido grabbed the bag and hefted it up. I grabbed my crutches and stood myself up.

"Well, I think we'd better be off then," said Ian, extending his wing towards Dr. Bronson, "I thank you for caring for our friend."

Dr. Bronson accepted it and shook his wing...arm...something.

As we left, I gave a small wave behind me to those who had given me such kindness. With a step out the door, I felt a new life stretching out ahead of me, brimming with possibilities. I was also charmed by Ian's comment. Friends, then? The word gave me a grin. Yeah, I nodded to myself, I could do with a few friends.

 **:::::::::::::::**

The world outside seemed quite different from inside the clinic. Many buildings stretched along dirt path, packed down hard as a rock from the many feet it had seen over the long years. Placing down my crutches onto the ground, I looked about. Buildings in varying sizes were scattered about the path, as well as a number of trees, bushes, and other such greenery. Posted on a rickety wooden post were signs that pointed in varying directions. The signs were filled with those same weird symbols that I could safely assume was writing, though they looked unfamiliar to me.

Off in the distance, I could see more trees over the tops of the buildings, an occasional building of some sort, and some hills off to the left. Farther past all that, I could see a lake far off to the right, and beyond that, some low mountains here and there. Downhill right, I could also see a small diversity more of buildings, trees, and such.

"Because it's closer, I think it'd be good to get to the Post Office," said Ian.

"Alright," responded Mido, shouldering the bag.

"Might as well," I said, "it would be nice to see my family at some point."

And so we followed Ian off left, uphill. The incline was gentle, so it wasn't too difficult to scale, though I did nearly slip once or twice. Shortly, we arrived at a large building. It was very yellow, where there was an opening of some sort. The back part of the building was white, though a few blue spots were visible as well. As we got closer, I noticed a bird with a large bill fly out of the opening. It looked...familiar...ah, they looked much like the building itself, or rather the building looked like them. Out in front of the building in question, I spotted another sign, this one very considerably larger than the ones by the clinic. Various pieces of paper were posted on it, all filled again with that unfamiliar writing. Various Pokémon were gathered around it, babbling to one another and reading the papers on the sign.

"Well, here we are!" said Ian. He turned to me. "This is the Pelipper Post Office. This is where mail comes in, goes out, and where you can find anonymous requests for rescue missions. I think this would be a good place to start looking."

I took a moment longer to continue to be amazed by the sights. "Wha-oh, I...yes."

Mido turned his attention towards me briefly as Ian chuckled softly to himself.

"Alright, come with me, then," said Ian, waving a wing forward as he moved towards the doorway. I followed behind him

Inside, there appeared to be a few more papers scattered here and there along the walls, but nothing that I could understand. Two large, open doorways stood on the ground, and 3 more up above on the wall. Inside them...well, I never got a good look, since my attention was immediately grabbed by the large, open room I just noticed we were standing in. I saw just in time another bird, presumably a pelipper, fly out the wide opening at the top of the room. Down below, many more pellipers sat up on raised platforms and along the walls, each with their own nest.

As I gawked at all of what I was seeing around me, my two friends approached one of the nests on a lower platform, this one having a sort of desk, of which there were a few, some occupied by other Pokémon. Mido eventually got my attention, and I made my way over towards Ian, who was already talking to the pelipper at the desk.

"...if you had anything about a missing cubone?"

The pelipper looked through a few things under the desk before poking its head back up.

"I don't see anything here honey," she replied, "let me get someone to look through the back, alright?"

"Okay," said Ian.

The pelipper then took a few steps back, flapped her wings a bit and took off. I watched as she flew into one of the open holes in the wall. After she disappeared inside, I stared after her for a moment before turning to my companions.

"So, where'd she go?" I asked.

Ian responded, saying "She's checking in back to see if there was anything that got missed. She'll be back in a minute."

"Oh," I said back, resuming my gandering of the large room. Not a moment later, I saw her fly back out of the hole and land back behind the desk.

"Alright honey, I didn't see anything back there," she said with an apologetic look.

"Hmm..." said Mido.

"If you're really serious, I'd check the Guild HQ," she said, giving a moments thought before adding another thought. "But I wouldn't get my hopes up too much."

Ian and Mido seemed taken back by this statement.

"W-what makes you say that, Dia?" stammered Mido.

"Well," she began, tilting her head in thought, "if memory serves right...little one?" she said, motioning towards me.

"Oh, uh, yes?" I queried.

"You wouldn't happen to have a...skull or anything, would you?"

"Oh! I...yes I do," I responded back.

Dia the pelipper then got a worried look in her eye.

"Honey, I don't think you're gonna find your family."

Ian and Mido looked shocked. I just shrugged.

"Eh, I figured something like this might happen," I responded.

My companions then turned their shock towards me.

"You...did?" asked Mido.

"I did tell you I had a feeling that I was probably a long ways from home, right?"

Ian then took a moment to think as Mido nodded in response to my statement.

"Well..." began Ian, turning back towards the desk, "you guys think you could at least check it out or something?"

Dia shook her head, her attention still focused on me. "Now honey...if I'm rememberin' just right, ain't that your mama's skull?"

Mido looked quite stunned for a moment before dropping the bag on the floor with a clatter. I, too, was surprised by her statement.

"I...excuse me, but _what?_ " I asked, bewildered.

"Oh, I'm so sorry if I've flipped any apple carts, sweetie," responded Dia, "I just assu-"

"Nono, like..." I put my hands up as if to try to grasp some imaginary concept, "What actually did...my mom's skull, you said? What?"

Dia gave me a very confused stare just then. "Honey, you not rememberin' that?"

"I...mm..." I began, then just eventually nodding my head. "Amnesia, ma'am."

"...Oh...well, I think I'd best fill y'all in!" she exclaimed.

"Fill us in on..." said Mido distractedly, pawing through the bag before retrieving the skull, "...on this?"

"Well, from what I've heard, a cubone wears the skull of their dead mother and will use a bone from her body to protect themselves. That's why a cubones are known as bonekeepers, and also as lonely Pokémon. You followin' me, fellas?"

We all sat there in silence for a short moment.

"Sky...you...do that?" asked Mido hesitantly.

I shrugged a shoulder. "I guess so?"

"Now now, that's just a rumor. If it's true or not, I don't know, but it looks like that to me." added Dia.

"So...what you're saying is that we might not find his family because...he doesn't have any?" asked Ian, bewildered by this revelation.

Dia nodded gravely.

"...Maybe...maybe that's why I feel so far from home...?" I asked nobody in particular.

Mido kind of just stared at the skull in his hands with a slightly horrified look in his eye.

"Well...shoot," I said, "Now what do we d-OOOOHH!"

I was startled by a sudden embrace from Ian, him patting me on the back a little as he hugged me close.

"I'm...so sorry, dude..." he said, letting out a small tear.

I, myself, was completely taken off guard by this, and Mido seemed to share my surprise. Awkwardly, I slowly raised my arms up to return the gesture.

"I-uh, it's...I...it's alright, Ian, it's...we're good-I'm good..."

Ian suddenly released his grip on me, which knocked me off balance a little, and backed up a couple of paces.

"I, uh...yeah, sorryaboutthat..." he muttered out, scratching the back of his neck.

I spent another few seconds being stunned by what just happened before turning to Mido.

"Uh...can I...see that?" I said, pointing to the skull he still held in his arms.

"Oh, sure!" he said, practically throwing it at me.

"Oof...okay, Dia was it? You said that I wear this as a helmet?"

She stared off into space for a second before snapping back into reality. "What-oh, yesyes, sugar."

"Okay, thanks," I responded. I then muttered to myself, "I guess let's try this thing on, then."

Gripping the skull with both hands, I raised it up to my head. It didn't quite...feel like it fit at first, but a little bit of wiggling got it over my head completely. Looking out, I noticed my peripheral vision seemed hindered, giving me a slight sense of tunnel vision. Other than the noticeable extra weight the thing gave my head, it fit on nicely enough. Yet, it still felt a bit familiar, but almost not quite right...oh, perhaps that's just my memory (or lack thereof) getting the best of me again.

"You look a lot different with that on," remarked Ian.

"Does it...is it good?" asked Mido.

"I...I think so, yeah," I responded back, "I just thought I might remember something if I put this on, but..." I ended the thought, reaching up again to remove the skull.

"Nonono," protested Ian, "Keep it on. I think it looks good on ya."

"I...alright," I relented, removing my hands from the skull. I noticed just how different everything sounded from inside the skull, my own voice included.

"Well, should we take him to the base now or something?" asked Mido.

Ian gave a sigh. "...Yeah, let's go."

I adjusted my crutches under me as Mido recollected the sack with my belongings. As we headed towards the exit, I stopped and turned towards the pelipper who had helped us.

"Thank you so much. I hope you have a great day!"

Dia looked sort of stunned for a moment before nodding. "Goodbye, dear!"

I grinned under my skull as I gave one last look towards her. Another step, and she was out of sight.

 **:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

Sorry, this chapter took a while to push out. I blame...actually, I don't know who I blame.

Eh.

Anyway, quick thank you towards SnivyPro18 and to DreamCrawler for adding me to their communities.

Anyway, vacation was good. The car almost broke down, but thankfully the town we broke down in had really nice hotel rooms and about 20 different repair shops, so that was a relief. Still, it was nice to be out there where the adjacent houses are basically farms 'n all that. Did me some good, did Mom some good, slept on the couch for a few nights, had a good time overall.

I'm also becoming aware that this story is almost becoming biweekly at this rate. I apologize about that. I'll try to be better prepared in the future, and will begin stockpiling up a few chapters in advance, just to make sure.

Also, I realize I tend to babble on _way_ too long down here, so I'll just shut up now and sign off. Proxima septimana!

\- JacobDaGun


End file.
